Tickets are on sale now ($15) for this event in NYC on Dec. 8 at 6:00 p.m., and they say they’ll be streaming the panel online at 6:05 p.m. here. (I’m not sure if that’s free to anyone, but I hope so.)

Last Friday, I gave my first reading of Fair Coin to a small crowd at the Philadelphia Fantastic reading, hosted by Oz Fontecchio at Robin’s Bookstore & Moonstone Arts Center. It’s a little known fact that I don’t throw parties often because I’m paranoid that no one will come; I don’t know many people in Philadelphia and even fewer have heard of me, so I expected only a handful of guests, but I was pleasantly surprised to see many dear friends at the event, and I even made some new ones. (The usual way, not out of clay, or anything like that.) I read three short excerpts, which were well received, and sold and signed more books than I expected. Many thanks to Oz and Robin’s for such a shiny welcome to this new author and his book.

You might be wondering how you can hear me read from Fair Coin. It just so happens there are a few opportunities coming up in the next week:

I will be interviewed tonight/early tomorrow morning on Jim Freund’s radio program, Hour of the Wolf on WBAI 99.5 FM, from 1:30 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. I’ve been on the show lots of times with my writing group, but this is my first not-quite-solo appearance; agent extraordinaire Eddie Schneider from JABberwocky Literary will join me. If you’re awake, you can listen on the radio (if you still have one of those) or stream the station live at http://www.wbai.org. If you’re asleep by then, the episode will be available in the archive for two weeks.

The show may be a terrible tactical error, because tomorrow morning I’m reading at 10:00 a.m. at the Inwood branch of the NYPL with authors Jessica Rothenberg, Léna Roy, Mark Schulman, and Arlaina Tibensky, in the NYC Big Read, part of the NYC Teen Author Festival. The word of the day will be COFFEE. (I’ll also be signing books with fifteen other authors at Books of Wonder on Sunday, April 1, from 2:30 – 3:15.)

Finally, next Tuesday, April 3, at 7:00 p.m., I’ll be reading at the NYRSF Readings series at the Soho Gallery for Digital Art with Alaya Dawn Johnson, who has a great new book out called Wicked City. There will also be a guest appearance by Sam Weber, one of my favorite artists, who made the awesome cover for Fair Coin!

I’ll have some Fair Coin swag at all the readings and signings, if you need a little more incentive to attend. I look forward to seeing lots of friends and meeting other readers!

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who has done something, anything, to spread the word about me and my debut YA novel, Fair Coin, in the last few weeks. I’ve been overwhelmed by all of your generosity and support. Whether you’ve interviewed me on your site, purchased the book, told your friends and family about it, tweeted, Facebooked, blogged, or reviewed it… It all helps, and I’m so grateful. As much as I’ve been talking about myself here and on social media lately, it doesn’t come naturally. In fact, it makes me a bit uncomfortable, so it’s much easier when other people talk about me instead. And I hope I’ll be able to return this blog to its usual eclectic programming soon!

Some friends have kindly asked what else they can do, such as whether buying it from a particular place is better for me than another. The answer is: Yes, probably. But honestly, I’ve been working on Fair Coin for years and I’m just happy I can finally share my first novel with friends and strangers alike–after all, I wrote it to be read by more than just my family and critique group. As long as you aren’t downloading it illegally or stealing copies, I’m thrilled that you invested hours, days, or weeks to reading it. Hopefully you also enjoy it. I’m even happier if you get the book into the hands of actual teenagers; I hear kids like YA books even more than adults do.

I’ve been learning plenty about book promotion in the last year, and I have discovered some interesting and unexpected things that could influence a book’s sales and long-term success. I will share them with you in case you are inspired to help me become a bestselling young adult author, the better to give my doofy cat the life of luxury she deserves. No pressure. These suggestions can also benefit other authors and books you like, so please consider this a general public service announcement.

One of the most common writing myths portrays the lonely author, struggling in solitude to create art. There’s some truth to this–at the end of the day, it does all come down to a writer sitting down and committing words to the page, putting pen to paper or tapping diligently at keys. And I’m sure there are many writers today who do write in a kind of void, all alone with their thoughts and/or nature.

Don’t forget: one of the prizes is a face-to-face critique with my writing group, Altered Fluid, which includes published novelists and short story writers and editors with multiple Hugo and Nebula award nominations. And, uh, me. You can’t afford to pass up an opportunity like this. I’m looking forward to reading your story!